What kind of emperor was nero

Nero — murderer, thief, sadist, tyrant — wanted to be remembered as something else. He devised elaborate ways to cause untold suffering, including crucifying his victims upside down and turning them into human candles for his garden. For his persecution, Nero has been described as the Antichrist. He planned a bizarre assassination attempt involving a self-sinking boat, but she survived, so Nero had to use the flimsy excuse that she might seek revenge to justify sending his guards to kill her.

Nero divorced his first wife, Ocatavia, had her banished and then executed, all so he could marry his mistress. Three years later, however, Poppaea died too — supposedly when Nero kicked her in her belly while she was pregnant. To pay for his gargantuan palace, Nero went to extreme lengths to squeeze all he could out of the empire. He had the temples raided, the silver currency devalued and there are reports of him forcing the richest people in Rome to leave their properties to him in their wills, before he made them commit suicide.

According to Roman historian Suetonius, he turned to a woman named Locusta to administer poison into his drink at a dinner party — avoiding the food tasters by spiking not the warmed wine, but the water used to cool it. When Nero saw the boy Sporus, he was so struck by how much he looked like his dead wife that he had him castrated and arranged a wedding ceremony, complete with dowry and bridal veil.

When Rome went up in flames in AD 64, it has been said that Nero took an active role in helping his people — he arranged food deliveries and let his gardens be used by the homeless. A keen musician and actor, Nero built theatres, encouraged poetry and singing, and created festivals for artistic and athletic endeavours.

Sign in. Back to Main menu Virtual events Masterclasses. A coin minted in Rome, showing busts of Nero and Agrippina. Did Emperor Nero really play the fiddle while Rome burned? Alternate history: what if Boudica had defeated the Romans? Stealing To pay for his gargantuan palace, Nero went to extreme lengths to squeeze all he could out of the empire. Castration When Nero saw the boy Sporus, he was so struck by how much he looked like his dead wife that he had him castrated and arranged a wedding ceremony, complete with dowry and bridal veil.

But we can bust some myths and confirm others. It remains a favourite with modern cartoonists. When they want to show a politician not caring about some national disaster, they dress him up in a toga, put a laurel wreath on his head and a lyre in his hands, with flames behind. But is the original story true? Opinions differ. One writer, not long after the event, describes how Nero watched the blaze from the outskirts of the city, singing to his lyre though another claims he was actually 60 kilometres away at the time.

It is clear that after the disaster, he organised efficient relief operations, opening his own palaces for shelter and paying for emergency food supplies. And he introduced new fire regulations, insisting on a maximum height for buildings and the use of non-flammable materials. That is almost certainly false. It was notorious at the time. But there is no evidence at all that he torched the city in order to build the palace.

Nero himself actually blamed the Christians, as a radical new sect, and had many of them horribly put to death some burnt alive, others torn to pieces by animals. Almost certainly, yes. Agrippina, the fourth wife of the emperor Claudius, was one of those powerful women in Rome who were probably blamed for many more crimes than they actually committed.

It is from this influence of mother over son that the lurid, and entirely unproven, tales of incest arose. Things changed as he grew up, and in his early twenties, Nero was determined to break free of his mother by any means — so he had her dispatched by a palace hit squad.

There was his step-brother Britannicus who dropped down dead at dinner, said to have been poisoned by Nero. Poppaea herself did not survive long. Nero was rumoured to have kicked her in the stomach while she was pregnant with their second child and she died shortly after.

There is no letting Nero off the hook for all of these crimes. It is not really a good defense to say that murder was a common weapon in the brutal world of Roman power politics, or that Octavia was not entirely the innocent victim she has been assumed to be there are hints of factional struggles in the palace, with Octavia siding with Agrippina.

But there has always been a tendency to pin on Nero any sudden death that took place close to the centre of power, whether there is any evidence or not. Nero and Britannicus. Image courtesy of Interspot Film. According to their accounts, his mother Agrippina was a ruthless and ambitious woman who schemed and murdered to get her son on the throne.

When it finally paid off, she had no intention of fading into the background. However, five years into his reign, Nero and Agrippina became locked in a brutal power struggle. In Baiae, he plotted the murder of his own mother by inviting her as a guest of honor to a sumptuous banquet at his villa.

It is uncertain if it was an accident or arson; however, the fire burned for several days and nights, destroying most of the city. Rumors quickly spread that Nero started the fire to clear land for an expanded palace, and that he played music in his own palace while the city burned. However it is possible that those accusations are simply rumors with no basis. Nero looks on while Rome burns. Nero felt a strong connection to Baiae, and he began to covet the villas of others there, including those of his family.

He even raced a ten-horse chariot and nearly died after being thrown from it. In 68 AD, after a turbulent year reign, the Roman senate ran out of patience and declared Nero a public enemy.

Nero then fled, and on June 9, 68 AD, at the age of 30, he committed suicide. His death ended the Julio-Claudian dynasty. History has portrayed Roman Emperor Nero as one of the great villains — a cruel, insane despot, responsible for the Great Fire of Rome. Martin Zimmermann There was no form of historical record similar to our modern understanding of history. The writings were politically motivated, captivating literature.

Now, a forensic profiler considers new evidence to discover the truth about the controversial emperor. The emperor is said to have watched the disaster from the roof of his palace while making music — or, as legend has it, he "fiddled while Rome burned" and his subjects died. Nero is merely the emperor's stepson, but he is three years older. If the emperor dies now, Nero will become his successor. Nero's ambitious mother only married Claudius to ensure Nero, her son from her first marriage, would become emperor.

Martin Zimmermann Murder and the violent removal of political opponents were an everyday occurrence in imperial Rome. Assuming power was not done by democratic means — power was achieved by violence, aggression and assassinations. Martin Zimmermann One could say that Agrippina was a woman fully aware of her power, and that she knew how to take advantage of any opportunity that presented itself.

We cannot say with any certainty whether she did kill Claudius, but people at the time immediately accused her of doing so. Who told us that he was such a monster, where does our information actually come from, and can the witnesses stand up to examination? One questions whether Nero had anything to do with the Great Fire of Rome, while another is convinced that he started the blaze. They did not know him personally, and their knowledge was based on stories.

Did they perhaps add elements that were important to THEM? Just 13 when his father dies, Britannicus, the emperor's biological son, is frail and possibly epileptic And yet, he might pose a threat to young Emperor Nero, should he lay claim to the throne when he reaches maturity. Using poison to commit murder is difficult in ancient Rome, as the meals of the rich and powerful are tasted in advance.

Drinks are also sampled by the taster, but Nero is clever: he has a harmless but very hot drink served. According to Tacitus, the poison races through Britannicus' body, making it impossible for him to breathe or speak.

However, murder by poison is easier to describe than to commit — even in ancient Rome. The descriptions of Britannicus' death suggest a rapidly-acting poison that was both colorless and odorless. Did such a poison even exist in the age of Nero?

In antiquity, the most effective poisons were plant toxins from yew trees, lily of the valley, hemlock and wolf's bane. Today, scientists in a modern forensic lab are testing whether any of these poisons could have killed Brittanicus in the manner described.

The poison had to have been both colorless and odorless, otherwise it would have been immediately in the water. In order to put the poison in the water, the toxin would have had to be extracted from the plant first. The more the water is reduced during the boil, the more concentrated the poison will be, but the color and aroma also become more intense.

Tacitus writes that the poison is placed in a jug of water that was used to cool Britannicus' hot drink. If that was the case, the poison had to have been very concentrated in order to remain effective after being watered down…twice.

Wolfgang Bicker If one considers all the steps that are required to create an odorless and colorless but which is sufficiently toxic to be effective, then one must accept that it was practically impossible at the time considering the methods that were available. Wolfgang Bicker If a plant toxin is ingested orally, then it takes time for the poison to cross from the digestive system into the bloodstream.

Then it must still be transported to the part of the body where it takes effect. It is therefore fundamentally inconceivable that death could occur within seconds. So, given the circumstances, is it not possible that an epileptic fit was seen as attempted murder?

After all, people believed Nero was capable of anything. Agrippina has not made Nero emperor out of a mother's love for her son. She sees herself as the true ruler of the empire, and Nero as a mere puppet.

She is the power behind the throne and she makes no effort to conceal it, as coins from the era reveal. Marcus Reuter When Nero ascends to the throne in 54 A. The first coins that are minted show both the reigning emperor and, at eye level and the same size, his mother.

This hadn't happened before, and it would not happen again. Agrippina publically lays claim to power, and the first conflicts between mother and son soon follow. The coins show this very clearly. Just a few months after the first coins find their way into circulation, a second coin is released.

The new coin still includes Agrippina, but she has now moved into the background. She no longer holds the same significance she did at the beginning of Nero's reign. A few months later she has vanished from the currency altogether. These new policies resulted in the Pisonian conspiracy, a plot formed in 65 by Gaius Calpurnius Piso, an aristocrat, along with knights, senators, poets and Nero's former mentor, Seneca.

They planned to assassinate Nero and crown Piso the ruler of Rome. The plan was discovered, however, and the leading conspirators, as well as many other wealthy Romans, were executed. Just three years later, in March, 68, the governor Gaius Julius Vindex rebelled against Nero's tax policies.

He recruited another governor, Servius Sulpicius Galba, to join him and to declare himself emperor. While these forces were defeated and Galba was declared a public enemy, support for him increased, despite his categorization as a public enemy. Fearing that his demise was imminent, Nero fled.

He planned to head east, where many provinces were still loyal to him, but had to abandon the plan after his officers refused to obey him.

He returned to his palace, but his guards and friends had left. He ultimately received word that the Senate had condemned him to death by beating and so he decided to commit suicide.

Unable to carry out the deed by himself, however, his secretary, Epaphroditos, assisted him. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.